Paris Dec 18:
Bitcoin’s soaring value has caught the attention of high-end fashion brands and retailers, prompting further interest in offering cryptocurrencies as a means of payment to tap in to fresh pockets of wealth and build loyalty with crypto investors.
Until recently, only a handful of luxury brands including LVMH watch labels Hublot and Tag Heuer as well as Kering-owned fashion brands Gucci and Balenciaga have experimented with crypto payment offers.
In recent weeks, upscale French luxury department store Printemps announced it was teaming up with the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, and French financial tech company Lyzi to accept cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ethereum in its stores in France – becoming the first European department store to do so. The move, coming as bitcoin rises, has been noticed by other brands and retailers who are showing interest in joining in.
But pledges of support from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to bring in more friendly e-currency regulation, have fueled record-breaking rises for bitcoin. S&P analysts say the narrative is starting to shift, noting that blockchain innovation in financial markets could increase predictability for cryptocurrencies.Luxury labels have long sought to cater to affluent shoppers from the tech industry by opening stores in upscale Silicon Valley malls and issuing products like the Hermes Apple Watch, for example, which combines signature, stitched leather straps of the French Birkin bag maker with tech giant Apple’s connected timepiece.
Now, new wealth generated by bitcoin’s recent highs – topping $107,000 on Monday – comes as the luxury industry faces its biggest slump in years and searches for new sources of growth.
